Cooking for Cheats - Poached Egg Over Ham and Toast

My kitchen has seen a fair bit of activity lately.

with JJ taking up most of my time and no additional help, i now have even lesser time for chores and caring for the household.
since i breastfeed, nutrition is a major concern. i didn't want to resort to reaching for chips and cookies to curb my hunger pangs, so i have been on the prowl for speedy recipes that put food on the table in less than 20 minutes.

i have always been a fan of simple, straightforward cooking because anything that takes more than 5 ingredients and longer than an hour to prepare is really best eaten at a restaurant.

these days, in addition to taste and speed, the amount of time needed for cleaning up after has become another important requirement when i cook.

meals that taste great, cook easy and clean up fast after are certainly not easy to prepare, but i realise that with a little bit of cheating, the challenge becomes pretty enjoyable.

i have been wondering about eggs benedict ever since i saw them on television, but in my present state there would certainly be no pottering around the kitchen for hollandaise sauce.

so my curiosity led me to make the best of whatever i had in the fridge, and the results were fast, dead simple and very delicious.

1. i started by toasting two slices of bread while browning two slices of ham in a frypan.

2. in a small pot filled two-thirds with water, i added a tablespoon of vinegar when the water came to a boil and reduced the boil to a gentle simmer.

3. after cracking an egg into a bowl, i gently slid the egg into the pot of water before covering the pot and waiting for four minutes.

4. i then stacked the ham on top of my toast, and topped it with my poached egg.

with some freshly cracked black pepper, this made a quick and yummy breakfast!